Put new set extra light strings on MK 5 I resontly aquired. Tweeked the neck just a little to my liking. At last night jam the g string (40) just didnt cut thru. I've used same strings on my Rouge & Essence with no problem. Could this just be a pu adjustment issue, electronics or tonal settings? Steve

Are they perfectly new strings, straight from the package? Does the string have a wrap, and does it start before the nut? On the open string, does it rattle? At the bridge, does the string "sit" in the groove?

Set the bass upright, loosen the string, and lift it out of the tail piece. If the string rotates, grab it when it hangs still, and put it back into the tail piece, without twisting it.

If it's a gain issue, you might want to turn up the internal gain controls.

There is no reason that one particular string would have the same sound on 3 different Alembic basses. You may find that the material and mass differences between the instruments are significant enough that you'll have to seek out what string sounds best on the MK.

thanks for the suggustions. new strings earnie ball extra light round wound,all live..neck has settled...sit in nut & bridge good...no buzz.....I did twist stings at bridge to sit in sattle same when installed cause I wanted them to all line up the same. Adrian,I will reset all strings an let them fall naturally in place if I understand that right. Mica, no they don't have the same sound on the basses. the lower volume issue for the MK G and maybe even the D. Could it be the small gauge (40)is just to small? G Does each pu have a seperate gain?

If it's on the treble side, you might try just tilting the pickup slightly closer on that side. If it doesn't work you can always drop it down again and be back where you started.

But the pickups are stupid. What I mean is that they don't know how to distinguish one string from another, so if you are having a problem with one string, you might want to try another set since that's a pretty cheap way to at least eliminate the string as the culprit.

Interesting that the problem cropped up after you tweaked the set-up. FWIW, I have found that treble-side strings, like a "G" string, will lose "power" or what I would prefer to call a full frequency response if the action of the bass is just a tad too low on the treble side. In fact, that happened to me last week.

If your action is a bit too low, the string won't audibly buzz (like the B, E or A strings will), but its ability to vibrate freely will be affected if it's bouncing off the fret tops after you strike it. (Of course, if the action is waaay too low the D and G strings will buzz, too.)

Anyway, try raising the treble side action no more than a 1/4 or 1/2 of a bridge wrench turn and see if that clears up the problem. Bet it does